Ingredients
Olive oil or butter to sauté
1/2 cup-3/4 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup green or orange bell pepper, diced
1 small clove of garlic (optional--it punches up the flavor)
1lb ground beef
2 cans of beans, drained (kidney and black are commonly used in my house but sometimes it's black and pinto, or just black, or just pinto or whatever!)
1 can crushed or diced tomatoes
1-2 cans tomato sauce (or 1 can of sauce and about 3/4 cup of jarred pasta sauce if you want to change the flavor a bit)
2-3 Tbsp Chili Powder
1-2 tsp cumin
dash of cayenne or red pepper flakes (optional)
dash of hot sauce (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
In a large pot, heat oil or butter over medium-high heat and add the ground beef. Salt and pepper the beef and sauté until browned or mostly browned; it doesn't need to be fully cooked. Remove the ground beef from the pot. Do not drain it unless there is an excessive amount of grease—some fat is necessary for sautéing the vegetables.
Add the onions and bell pepper to the pot and sauté until they become translucent, 2-3 minutes. If desired, add the garlic and stir, ensuring that the garlic doesn't brown or over cook, about 1 minute. Add the drained beans and stir again to incorporate the flavors in the pot.
Return the cooked ground beef to the pot and stir again. Add the crushed tomatoes and sauce to the mixture and educe the heat to medium or medium-low. Add the remaining seasonings and stir. When the mixture begins to slowly bubble, lower the heat, cover with a lid, and let it simmer until dinnertime! It can be served immediately, but the longer it simmers, the more the flavors meld, resulting in a deeper flavors for your chili.
Note: all chili is different. This is how my family often prepares it, but we change it up, depending on the ingredients on hand. Sometimes, we add more meat to the ground beef, such as a couple of links of spicy chicken sausage. Other times, we make an all-bean chili. Even still, the amount of liquid added changes! Occasionally, we use a leftover tomato-based sauce from another dish we made a previous night and incorporate that into our chili. Much like pasta sauce, chili is versatile and can be easily adapted using different ingredients.